A few years ago, I had a eureka moment that changed the way our firm approached client education.

When we first started offering client webinars, we traveled to our regional offices to conduct events that were focused on market outlook. When the pandemic hit, we continued to offer these events, but they became quarterly webinars.

The subject matter at the time was focused on investment and economic updates. But my thinking changed when I realized that as a planning-led firm, we should be providing more to our clients than market updates—we were missing a big opportunity.

That’s when we made the switch to begin talking to clients about the topics that matter to them.

Launching a Client Education Series

Now that we’ve been doing this for a few years, our process has become a well-oiled machine. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t still learning and implementing new ideas to raise the bar.

Overall Process

Conducting a dedicated program is a commitment and it requires the resources to keep it fresh and relevant. Developing topics, engaging speakers, and creating presentation content are all time-consuming and require careful advanced planning. We pre-determine the entire year of topics, dates, and speakers and announce the schedule to clients, so they know what’s coming—that’s six sessions per year, held every other month.

To get the word out, approximately two to three weeks ahead of each webinar, we create a landing page for capturing responses and email an invitation. We also send a follow-up reminder prior to each event.

Determining the Topics

Our move to a dedicated client education program began with a focus on very general topics to try to satisfy our entire client base. After that first year, we went a little more niche and focused on different types of clients. We just completed our third year of the program, and it was a mix of both general and niche subjects.

Be strategic with topics and their timing to drive client participation and feedback. For example, when we did a webinar about planning for college, it was right before the FAFSA® deadline. Our session on Medicare took place just ahead of open enrollment.

We also follow a cadence that helps us plan our schedule. We start the year with a session focused on budgeting and typically end the year with a webinar related to tax and charitable planning.

Topic determination can be driven in a number of ways—current events, client demographics, advisor suggestions, client requests, client surveys—the sky’s the limit when it comes to subject inspiration.

We change things up each year to keep it fresh, but as we’re always adding new clients and acquiring new firms, some haven’t heard the content we shared previously. If we recycle a topic, we look for new angles to include.

Don’t be afraid to engage third-party speakers. We have a lot of financial experts in our firm, but that doesn’t mean that we know it all! When we have a subject that warrants a higher level of expertise, we don’t hesitate to bring in an expert to ensure our clients are getting the best possible education.

Technology and Logistics

When it comes to the technology of webinars, we’ve all become savvier over the past few years, but that doesn’t mean clients don’t need help navigating the webinar platform. My recommendation is to conduct internal tech run-throughs with the presenters and support staff to ensure everything is set up properly from the start and that everyone understands their role. Be prepared for instances where clients might need additional support at the time of the event.

Our webinars are conducted live and are scheduled for an hour—45 minutes for the presentation and 15 minutes to answer questions at the end. The sessions are generally conducted by two to three speakers from our team with others on hand to help field questions as they come into the platform throughout the event.

Embrace Flexibility

Our client education program not only differentiates our firm but also serves as a tool for client retention and prospecting. Clients are invited to the event via email, and we encourage them to share the invitation with friends and family who may benefit from attendance. This has been one of the best outcomes of holding these events virtually—not only are they less expensive and more convenient to conduct, but there are no limits on attendance.

Flexibility also extends to our openness to feedback. We want to hear from clients that they found value in attending, but we also want to know where we may have missed the mark so we can improve in the future. This avenue for ongoing dialogue with clients offers a further means of strengthening client relationships.

Measures of Success

The way we determine the success of a webinar is simple—did clients attend and did they provide positive feedback? The volume of registrations and attendance levels have been the best measures of determining if a topic was on point or if it fell flat.

We view our webinars as a value add for clients that allow us to create a differentiated experience, setting our firm apart in an industry that is becoming more and more competitive.

Taking It to the Next Level

I’m pleased to see how our client education efforts have evolved over the years and I’m excited to continue elevating the experience. As our company has grown, so has our support team. We now have a marketing director who is responsible for creating new content that will deepen the webinar experience by offering additional assets like blog articles and white papers to supplement our presentations.

We engage with our clients every day on what matters to them. Our webinar series provides an additional means to remind our non-planning clients that planning is a core part of the service we provide. Nothing is more satisfying than having one of these clients reach out to see how they can help secure their future by taking their financial planning journey to the next level.

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